John La Farge (Essays by Henry Adams, Kathleen A. Foster, Henry A. La Farge, H. Barbara Weinberg, Linnea H. Wren and James L. Yarnall) - Softcover

La Farge, now nearly forgotten, was at one time considered among the most progressive 19th century American artists. His oil landscapes and watercolorsdirect studies from naturedecisively influenced Winslow Homer. His innovations in opalescent glass revitalized the art of stained glass with undreamt-of pictorial effects. An interior design for Trinity Church in Boston, with its floating Byzantine spaces, created a sensation. Muralist, book illustrator, art critic, travel writer, decoratorLa Farge combined all these roles. Yet most of his paintings look academic and stilted by modern standards, and his far-flung trips to the South Seas and Japan yielded only tame travel scenes. Combining nearly 200 illustrations with essays by scholars, this catalogue of a traveling exhibit includes photographs of his interiors for the Vanderbilt house in New York, civic buildings and churches.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

While recognized largely for his paintings, stained glass, and interior decoration, La Farge (1835-1910) also drew attention during the American Renaissance as an illustrator, world traveler, art critic, and close friend of prominent men, including Henry James. This work, both monograph and exhibition catalog, is the first published on the artist in 50 years. The combination of six illuminating essays by La Farge experts and lavish illustrations, 72 in color, makes the wait worthwhile. Valuable appendices list important events in the artist's life, major exhibitions and sales, locations of extant works, and the objects on display in the current exhibition. Rarely are scholarly books so handsome, and vice versa. Highly recommended. Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Sleepy Hollow Restorations, Tarrytown, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.